Vital Times 2022 - 81

SPECIAL FEATURES
UC Davis Anesthesiology Partners
with CSA and Project Lead the Way to
Implement New Biomedical Curriculum
in Sacramento High Schools
Reihaneh Forghany, MD
I
n the Spring of 2022, the
UC Davis Department
of Anesthesiology
partnered with the California
Society of Anesthesiologists
(CSA) and Project Lead the
Way (PLTW) to implement a
new biomedical curriculum
for three high schools in the
Sacramento region: Antelope High School, River City
High School, and Pleasant Grove High School. The aim
of this partnership is to mentor and empower young
students to pursue a career in health care and increase
their exposure to medicine from early in their educational
career. As experts of respiratory anatomy and
physiology, anesthesiologists possess a unique skillset
and knowledge base, which allows for the development
of an educational curriculum applicable to a variety of
healthcare fields.
This was a very exciting opportunity for our PLTW team,
which consisted of a group of UC Davis anesthesiology
faculty and residents. Being able to engage in an
outreach program in our community and empower high
school students has truly been a privilege. Our sessions
alternated between traveling to the three partner high
schools and subsequently having the students visit the
UC Davis simulation center for more hands-on sessions.
During each high school visit, our workshops began with
an overview presentation of the partnership, followed
Drs. Venea Omandac, Amy Chen, Reihaneh Forghany, Viviana
Ruiz-Barros, and Jorge Avila at River City High School
by a lecture on respiratory anatomy and physiology.
Thereafter, our team led a guided workshop during
which students worked in groups to invent an airway
device that allowed for ventilation and oxygenation.
Students were then presented with a scenario where
they encountered an unresponsive person and were
tasked with resuscitating that person. After learning
about the many devices used for airway management,
students practiced mask ventilation and intubation
on mannequins. We provided direct and video
laryngoscopes and other basic airway devices, such
as oral and nasal airways, laryngeal mask airways, and
surgical airway kits. Our sessions concluded with a
" pathway to medicine " panel, during which students had
the chance to ask our team questions while we shared
our unique pathways to becoming physicians.
Annual Publication 2022 | 81
Vital Times 2022

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